A LORRY carrying 24 tonnes of railway sleepers treated with oil caught fire on the motorway near Frankley.

The driver pulled over onto the hard shoulder of the M5 between junctions 4 and 3 of the northbound carriageway after another motorist flashed his lights to warn that the lorry's load was smouldering.

Two fire crews from Bromsgrove and one from Birmingham were called to the incident on Thursday morning and quenched the flames with foam.

A police escort led the lorry safely off the motorway into a layby and the fire crews called for heavy lifting gear to remove the sleepers and ensure none were still smouldering.

By 3pm the lorry had been made safe.